$507 million in ‘Star Wars’ contracts were signed.

The Pentagon boosted development of space-based killer missiles for the Strategic Defense Initiative by signing contracts with two contractor teams to build prototypes and flight-test the system. One three-contractor team--the Space Transportation System Division of Rockwell International Corp. of Downey; the Electronics Division of the General Electric Co. of Utica, N.Y., and LTV Aerospace & Defense of Dallas--received a contract for a three-year flight experiment. The second team is led by Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace of Denver and Martin Marietta Orlando Aerospace of Orlando, Fla., and includes as subcontractors Aerojet Electrosystems of Azusa and TRW Inc., Space Communications Division of Redondo Beach.